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Dear John,
If they thought this would be easy, they were wrong.
The past two weeks have seen the infiltration of federal agencies by Elon Musk and his toadies [[link removed]] , the shuttering of humanitarian aid under USAID [[link removed]] , the revving to life of a mass deportation and detention machine [[link removed]] , and threats by President Trump to eject Palestinians and occupy Gaza [[link removed]] .
They want to cut trillions from food stamps, health care, schools and housing programs [[link removed]] . And then they’ll give tax cuts to billionaires [[link removed]] and spend hundreds of billions on the Pentagon and mass deportations and detentions [[link removed]] .
They think they can divide Americans and take control of the federal budget to benefit billionaires and weapons manufacturers. We won’t let them get away with it.
You’ve seen the legal victories, and some of the biggest, like the rulings against the mass buyoff of federal workers [[link removed]] , depend on who holds the legal authority to make budget decisions.
Protests are springing up wherever they threaten everyday people, from federal workers on the streets of Washington D.C. [[link removed]] to our immigrant neighbors in our cities and towns.
This month, they’ll try to pass a budget that fulfills their plans. We will show the country what they’re really up to.
They are doing everything they can to bend our tax dollars to their will.
We won’t let them.
In solidarity,
Alliyah, Aspen, Hanna and Lindsay
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TRADEOFF: FAMILY SEPARATION VS. TRAVEL SAFETY
A tragic aviation collision [[link removed]] on January 29, 2025 in Washington D.C. has left many people mourning the loss of a loved one.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - responsible for the safety and regulation of civilian air travel - has historically been short-staffed [[link removed]] and underfunded [[link removed]] . The cause of the crash is under investigation, but recent attacks on federal workers by the Trump administration preceding the crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 left the FAA with significant gaps [[link removed]] in key personnel, including an administrator.
The collision is the deadliest [[link removed]] U.S. air disaster since 2001. And still, anti-immigrant leaders in Congress want to spend more than $175 billion in new taxpayer money [[link removed]] on mass deportations to separate families.
Share on [[link removed]] [[link removed]] Instagram [[link removed]] [[link removed]] [[link removed]] , Bluesky [[link removed]] , Twitter [[link removed]] [[link removed]] [[link removed]] , and Facebook [[link removed]]
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Sources: USAspending.gov, GAO
LEAVE FEDERAL WORKERS ALONE. CUT THE PENTAGON INSTEAD.
If you’re a federal employee, life these days is a tornado of layoffs [[link removed]] , anxiety [[link removed]] , and dubious promises [[link removed]] of rewards if you willingly leave your job, all courtesy of Elon Musk’s DOGE.
This is supposedly an effort to save precious taxpayers dollars. But it’s also a transparently ideological place to start, since the entire federal workforce costs less than the contracts for one federal agency. In 2022, the entire federal workforce cost $271 billion, while the Pentagon spent $414 billion on contracts [[link removed]] .
So far, the Pentagon and its nearly half-a-trillion dollars in contracts remain untouched.
Learn More [[link removed]]
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Photo courtesy of Marc Nozell from Wikimedia Commons
IMMIGRANTS ARE HERE TO STAY
Detaining and deporting immigrants is all wrong. People all over are showing up in defense for our immigrant communities.
We’re a few weeks into the second Trump administration, and it’s clear that Trump has launched the most blatant hate agenda against immigrants [[link removed]] . Some lawmakers are giving him a helping hand [[link removed]] , too.
Not only is the mass deportation and detention machine inhumane and heartbreaking, it would cost a lot - $88 billion [[link removed]] each year over a decade, estimates the American Immigration Council. We found that $88 billion could erase medical debt nationwide [[link removed]] for 40 million Americans, or a fraction of it - $11 billion - could provide free lunch to all schoolchildren [[link removed]] in the United States.
From Know-Your-Rights trainings and detention abolition [[link removed]] campaigns at the local level, to lobbying and lawsuits [[link removed]] from immigrant rights groups at the state and federal levels, the immigration movement is countering the hate agenda with love.
Learn More [[link removed]]
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READ/ WATCH/ LISTEN
Leave Federal Workers Alone. Cut Pentagon Contracts Instead. [[link removed]]
Lindsay Koshgarian, National Priorities Project Blog
Detaining and Deporting Immigrants Is All Wrong. Immigrants Are Here to Stay. [[link removed]]
Alliyah Lusuegro, National Priorities Project Blog
Wanna Make America Healthy? Cut Military Spending [[link removed]]
Aspen Coriz-Romero, National Priorities Project Blog
U.S. Government Funds Other Nations’ Militaries More Than It Funds Climate Protection [[link removed]]
Hanna Homestead and Aspen Coriz-Romero, Talk World Radio
Government efficiency goals are great — but not at the expense of the American people [[link removed]]
William S. Becker, The Hill (citing NPP’s tax receipt report [[link removed]] )
Climate disasters are political — so let’s politicize them [[link removed]]
Basav Sen, OtherWords
Anti-immigrant legislation doesn’t serve anyone but prison contractors [[link removed]]
Sulma Arias, OtherWords
If Republicans Can Take My Rights Away Today, They’ll Take Yours Tomorrow [[link removed]]
Robin S.C. Griffin, OtherWords
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National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
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